Is this James Ogden's Fishing Rod?

I've been looking at a photograph a lot recently. It shows a man of apparently middle-years, stockily built. His name is James Ogden, the photograph is from his book "On Fly Tying", published in 1879.

He appears in a river scene, sitting on a seat-basket, a reinforced creel of his own devising. At his feet is the folding landing net he invented, and a page of fly patterns - Ogden is credited with inventing the "Invicta" amongst other things, of which more later. In his hand he is holding a fishing rod. From the position of the attached reel, it's a fly rod. He designed and made the rod as well.

Ogden first came to prominence in 1865 when he successfully demonstrated the use of a floating artificial fly on the Derbyshire Wye at Bakewell, some twenty years before Halford popularised the method.

​Ogden was born in Matlock in Derbyshire some time between 1800 and 1805. His father, Frank Ogden, a carriage driver, was also well known as an accomplished angler himself.Subsequently Ogden lived in three locations; Matlock, his place of birth, Leamington Priors (now known as Leamington Spa) and Cheltenham. The census of 1841 confirms his residence in Leamington, but also, interestingly, gives his profession as "Musician".

Page from the Census of 1841 for Rosefield St. Leamington. James Ogden recorded as "Musician"

All three locations were well-established spa towns, resorts where the great and the good would go to "take the waters", places in which a musician would have little difficulty in making a living playing for the many entertainments such as the Assembly Room dances, although by 1851 the census shows him to be operating his fishing tackle business in the town of Cheltenham.

From information in his book "On Fly Tying" published in 1879, Ogden seems to have been making rods as early as 1839 whilst still in Leamington. In the book he makes particular mention of a range of rods he devised called "Multum in Parvo" (Latin: "much in little"):

Above:
Catalogue listing for a later version of the "Multum in Parvo"

To quote Ogden:

"One of the best and most useful rods I have brought out is my "Multum in Parvo Fly Rod."​ I made the first for my own use, which was only eight feet in length. I was suffering at the time from rheumatism, and could not use my ordinary fly rod, but did not like to be disappointed in meeting a party of gentleman anglers..."

He goes on to describe a fishing party at the Bull Inn at Fairford, fishing on the River Coln, where the other members of the party were fascinated by the power and effectiveness of this little 8ft rod. It's worth remembering that most fly rods in use at this time were 10ft or more in length. Ogden says "I would not part with it, and I have it by me now". He later quotes from "The Field" confirming the date of this episode as June 1871. Clearly this little trout rod was much favoured, and I am sure that it is this rod, along with all his other achievements, that appears in the picture on the frontispiece of "On Fly Tying".

Is this one of James Ogden's personal rods?

In describing his production version of the "Multum", Ogden goes on to say:

"I make them of greenheart wood, various lengths -- eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve feet, in two joints, spliced and handled with leather" (My italics)

An example of such a rod was displayed at the Brighton and Hove Engineerium in 1982 as part of the "One Man, One Rod" exhibition:

This rod certainly fits Ogden's description of his "Multum" and is likely to be an early production example. Later versions were supplied with cork handles (as in the Catalogue page illustrated above), and even later, the spliced joint was replaced by ferrules.

This is a later version of the "Multum". Notice the characteristic conical butt cap, Ogden intended this to serve as a butt spear, usually supplied as a separate accessory with rods by other makers. The reel seat is brass, as are the dowelled ferrules. The guides are interesting. Although they look like Hardy's patent bridge guides, they are made quite differently, consisting of a single piece of wire, looped twice to create the guide and applied across the blank at an angle. Had this been a split cane rod, the "legs" would have been on flats separated by that over which the guide rests, as in the Hardy model.

This is the rod illustrated on the right at the top of the page, shown in more detail for comparison with the above. For the time being we will overlook the unconventional reel seat. Note, however, the conical wooden butt and the leather covered handle, the one similar to Ogden's rods, the second referred to by Ogden in describing his "Multum". The rod is also spliced ("spliced and handled with leather"). The rod is 10ft, a two piece with drop-ring guides. That suggests a manufacturing date before 1880, - most rods of this period were heavier, longer and composed of more sections, but we know Ogden was making two piece, greenheart rods at that time. Are there enough similarities to say this is an Ogden rod? Possibly, but then, if Ogden didn't make it, then who did?

And then there's that reel seat...

A simple brass staple driven through the butt supports the back of the reel foot, the front is held by an adjustable strap. It is an ingenious method of securing a reel and requires only the simplest of metal parts, - no castings, no custom made items, just a strap worked into the leather handle, and a brass staple. Now let us take a closer look at the photograph:

There is a seam running down the handle indication that the handle is covered in leather - Ogden tells us his "Multum" rods have a leather handle. The front of the reel foot seems to be being held by a band, or a strap, and the back of the foot is tight to the handle, but seems to have nothing to hold it. Finally there is a faint suggestion of a boundary, between the leather of the handle and something with a similar finish - is it a wooden butt? By scaling items in the photo with items of a known size, there seems to be a slight swelling on the rod at about 4 feet - a spliced joint, suggesting the rod in the picture is indeed the 8 foot rod of which Ogden wrote in the text. However, there are many similarities with the leather-handled rod in WVFFM and it is my belief that this rod is the "prototype" 10 foot "Multum in Parvo", made by and retained by James Ogden himself.

I really think it's hard to over-estimate Ogden's contribution the story of fly fishing. His many flies, the "Invicta" for example, his inventiveness and his popularisation of the shorter rod make him at least as important as many other more celebrated luminaries. But James Ogden's story is only the start.